Keyword-Triggered Skills

Keyword-triggered skills provide OpenHands with specific instructions that are activated when certain keywords appear in the prompt. This is useful for tailoring behavior based on particular tools, languages, or frameworks.

Usage

These skills are only loaded when a prompt includes one of the trigger words.

Frontmatter Syntax

Frontmatter is required for keyword-triggered skills. It must be placed at the top of the file, above the guidelines.

Enclose the frontmatter in triple dashes (---) and include the following fields:

Field	Description	Required	Default
triggers	A list of keywords that activate the skill.	Yes	None

Example

Here’s a simplified example of the github skill located at .agents/skills/github/SKILL.md:

---
name: github
description: Interact with GitHub repositories, pull requests, issues, and workflows using the GITHUB_TOKEN environment variable and GitHub CLI. Use when working with code hosted on GitHub or managing GitHub resources.
triggers:
- github
- git
---

You have access to an environment variable, `GITHUB_TOKEN`, which allows you to interact with
the GitHub API.

<IMPORTANT>
You can use `curl` with the `GITHUB_TOKEN` to interact with GitHub's API.
ALWAYS use the GitHub API for operations instead of a web browser.
ALWAYS use the `create_pr` tool to open a pull request
</IMPORTANT>

... (additional GitHub-specific instructions)

Context Management with Platform Skills: OpenHands includes specialized skills for platforms like GitHub and GitLab that are only triggered when needed (e.g., when you mention “github” or “gitlab” in your prompt). This keeps your context clean and focused, loading platform-specific guidance only when working with those services.

See more examples of keyword-triggered skills in the official OpenHands Skills Registry